Blumenthal pledges to `fight tenaciously' for people of Connecticut if elected to U.S. Senate

Robert Miller, Staff Writer

Published 10:04 pm, Thursday, October 14, 2010

DANBURY -- Connecticut Attorney General Richard Blumenthal said Thursday he's ready to carry on the same fights for the state that he's been involved in for the past 20 years if he is elected to the U.S. Senate in November.

Those battles, Blumenthal said, would include helping small businesses grow, creating a national energy policy that favors green companies, defending Social Security and supporting health care reform.

"This will be a different forum, a different platform," he said. "But I still plan to be fighting for the people of Connecticut."

Speaking to the editorial board of The News-Times and The Greater New Milford Spectrum Thursday, Blumenthal, 64, spoke often of his devotion to the state, pledging to "fight tenaciously" for its people if elected to the Senate on Nov. 2.

"I would view my job as U.S. senator as an advocate and a fighter for the people of Connecticut, just as I've done for 20 years as attorney general," he said.

More Information

Richard Blumenthal
64 years old
Lives in Greenwich
Democrat
Served as law clerk to U.S. Supreme Court Justice Harry Blackmun
From 1977 to 1981 served at U.S. attorney in Connecticut
In 1984, elected to the Connecticut House of Representatives
In 1987, elected to the state Senate in 1990, elected attorney general of the state
Now seeking the U.S. Senate seat being vacated by retiring U.S. Sen. Chris Dodd

Although the race between Blumenthal and McMahon appeared to be tightening in recent weeks, the latest Quinnipiac University poll shows Blumenthal with an 11-point lead in the race with 18 days remaining until Election Day.

Blumenthal said that lead comes in spite of being outspent by McMahon -- the former president and chief executive officer of Stamford-based World Wrestling Entertainment -- by a ratio he estimated at about 8-to-1.

He said McMahon will probably have spent about $50 million on her campaign by the time the race is over.

Blumenthal said he attributes his support among voters to his 20-year record as Connecticut's attorney general.

"My opponent has spent her life building up her fortune," Blumenthal said. "I've spent my life helping families build their future."

Blumenthal -- criticized by McMahon for knowing little about job creation -- talked at length about his plans to encourage business growth if elected to the Senate.

He said he'd work to provide capital to small businesses that need loans; would aim to reform U.S. tax policy to help businesses that need assistance; and would find ways to help build the state's export markets.

Blumenthal also said the creation of a national energy policy would help local businesses like Danbury's Fuel Cell Energy, and would promote green business and the jobs they could create, while penalizing states that allow air and water pollution to spread across state lines.

Blumenthal said he'd favor immigration reform that includes strict border patrols and enforcement of U.S. labor laws within the U.S. borders. He said immigration reform could allow undocumented aliens to apply for citizenship, but only if they passed criminal background tests.

"They should get at the end of the line," he said with regard to the process of becoming a U.S. citizen.

Blumenthal also said that while he supports the Obama health care reform legislation, he'd want to push those reforms forward by doing more cost-cutting.

For example, he said, if Medicare could negotiate directly for the cost of prescription drugs it now provides seniors, it could save the United States $200 billion a year.

Early in his campaign for the U.S. senate seat, state residents were baffled by reports that Blumenthal, who served stateside in the U.S. Marine Corps Reserves during the Vietnam War, had spoken to veterans groups in ways that implied he'd fought in the war.

Blumenthal acknowledged that in the hundreds of times he'd spoken to veterans, he slipped up a few times by saying things like "I served in Vietnam," instead of "I served during Vietnam."

"It was unintentional," he said. "But that's no excuse. I have apologized and been most apologetic to our veterans, whose cause I have championed and will continue to champion."

Asked if those statements will lose him votes, Blumenthal said that's up to the state's residents,

"The people of Connecticut know me and have taken the measure of my character," he said.